Ex-Honduran national police chief wanted in US arrested
By Marlon GonzÁlez and Christopher Sherman | AP
Today at 11:24 p.m.
FILE - Honduras Police Chief Gen. Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, also known as the Tiger, or “El Tigre,” salutes during an event in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Dec. 21, 2012. Bonilla Valladares, the former head of Honduras’ national police who was sought by U.S. prosecutors on drug and weapons charges was arrested Wednesday, March 9, 2022, according to a high-ranking police official. (AP Photo/File) (Fernando Antonio/AP)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A former head of Honduras’ national police who was sought by U.S. prosecutors on drug and weapons charges was arrested Wednesday, according to the government.
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares served as the country’s top police official in 2012 and 2013. Better known as “El Tigre, ” or “The Tiger,” Bonilla faced allegations of human rights abuses during his time in command.
Security Minister Ramón Sabillón confirmed Bonilla’s arrest Wednesday afternoon at a toll plaza on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa.
A high-ranking police official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the arrest, said Bonilla had been under surveillance by a police intelligence unit. The official said the arrest came in response to a U.S. extradition request.
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ex-honduran-national-police-chief-wanted-in-us-arrested/2022/03/09/b4eb1d10-a008-11ec-9438-255709b6cddc_story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, or “the Tiger,” is a former national police chief and accused of protecting the cocaine trafficking operations of the powerful Hernández brothers.
By Jeff Ernst
May 13, 2021, 5:18pm
THEN NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF JUAN CARLOS BONILLA, ANSWERED QUESTIONS FROM THE PRESS IN TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS ON MAY 24, 2012. PHOTO: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/GETTYIMAGES.
The U.S. has requested the extradition of a former police chief of Honduras who prosecutors say killed to protect a cocaine conspiracy for the president and his brother, according to local media reports in the Central American nation.
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, known as “El Tigre,” or the Tiger, due to his fierce appearance and allegedly ruthless approach to policing, was charged with drug trafficking and related weapons offences in April 2020, but the extradition request was only made May 13.
Bonilla has been lying low in Honduras ever since the charges were announced last year, and is not in government custody.
. . .
According to the complaint filed by the Southern District of New York against Bonilla, Hernández and his brother entrusted Bonilla “with special assignments, including murder.”
More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnxbz/an-ex-cop-allegedly-killed-for-the-honduran-president-now-the-us-wants-him-in-prison